Microsoft plans to bring Office to more Android tablets

With plans to get into as many platforms and devices as possible, Microsoft is bringing its Office apps into more Android devices. According to the Redmond-based tech giant, its Android hardware manufacturer program is expanding to 20 more companies, leaving them now with 31 “partners” in its program. This extends to Android tablets from those 31 companies, including a new LG tablet and the Sony Xperia Z4 tablet. These slates will be getting Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype pre-installed in the coming months.

The new deal is said to be a global initiative, but the company’s specifically targeting Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

Source: TechCrunch

Sony rumoured to be releasing 12-inch high-end tablet

There is an abundance of 7- to 10-inch tablets out in the market now but only a few have created 12-inch slates. Sony is reportedly working on launching one early next year. Supply chain sources told Digitimes that Sony plans on releasing the bigger tablet in the first half of 2015. It will be a high-end device that will supposedly cost over US$1,000.

What would this rumoured tablet have? It will reportedly carry a 12.9-inch 3,840 x 2,400 pixel resolution display, an 8.6mm thick Qualcomm processor, 8-megapixel camera, and Android 5.0 pre-installed. Of course, these are all just rumours so just take them with a grain of salt for now.

Source: Digitimes | Via: Ubergizmo

Review: ASUS MeMO 7 HD

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The 7-inch tablet space is surging right now. Prices are diving down and features are becoming increasingly more impressive and useful. Many of the key PC manufacturers have a dog in this fight and some like ASUS, have many. The maker of the two previous Nexus 7's has also released a cheaper and more consumer friendly model in the ASUS MeMO 7 HD which is now selling in Canada for $159. 

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Asus announces cheap yet powerful Asus MeMO Pad HD 7

Hot off the new Nexus 7 release, Asus is releasing a cheap but decently spec’d tablet, the Asus MeMO Pad HD 7. The $160 Android-powered tablet features a 7-inch multi-touch panel with 1280 x 800 HD resolution and IPS technology for a wide 170-degree viewing angle, high-quality dual speakers using Asus SonicMaster technology, 5-megapixel rear and 1.2-megapixel front cameras, and quad-core processor with 1GB RAM.

It is also equipped with 16GB internal storage with expansion capability via microSD (up to 32GB), Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN (802.11 b/g/n), Miracast, and has a supposed 10-hour battery life. The MeMO Pad HD 7 comes in blue, white, pink, and green and will be available on August 12 in Future Shop, Best Buy and Staples among other. Look out for a full review of the device here as we've been playing with a pre-release version.